Metal-heating apparatus.



W. B. PEIRCE.

METAL HEATING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT-15.1911.

1,302,843. Patented May 6, 19m

4 SHEETS-SHEET I.

N N 6] vwamko'c W. B. PEIRCE.

METAL HEATING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT-I5. 1911.

1,,30Q,,843w Patented May 6,1919

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.,

W. B. PEIRCE.

METAL HEATING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION mso em. 15. 1911.

1,302,83. Patented May 6, 1919..

4 SHEETS-MEET 3- m A TTORNEY W. B. PEIRCE.

METAL HEATING APPABAIUS. APPLICATION HLED ocT.1s. \911.

Patented May 6, 1919.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4 INVENZOR m 87 ATTORNEY till a, Ensures PATENT ornion.

wrnrimnnmronn rnmcn, or Non'm rozmwnnnn, NEW YORK, AEIfiIG-NOR 'ro BUFFALD 130w courm, or BUFFALO, nnwroax, A conrom'rxontor new To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM B. Person, a citizen of the United States, and resident of North Tonawanda, in the county of Niagara and State of- New York, have invented certain new. and useful Improvements in Metal-Heating- Apparatus, of which the following is a speci cation.

My -present invention concerns metal-heating apparatus of the type shown in my Patents 1,243,442, 1,243,443, and 1,243,444 issued on October 16th, 1917. The purpose is to progressively heat contin'uouslengths of material while feeding them automatically, into, through and out of a furnace.

Though useful for other purposes, it is particularly adapted for furnaces and operations where the metal is heated to a very high temperature, particularly Where heated up to the softening point. Effective heat ing to such temperatures requires that the metal passing through the furnace be kept freely exposed on all sides to avery high heat for a considerable time. To do this with the metal passing straight through the furnace would require either'a very slow feed or a very longfurnace, whereas it is desirable to usea relatively small, compact furnace and to give the metal a desired .high rate of feed into and out of the furnace combined with a relatively slow rate of progress through the furnace.

For such purposes, it has been proposed to accomplish this by giving the metal a straight feed into and out of the furnace, the intermediate portions beingv Wound tightly around a revolving drum within the furnace. Such method involves extensive contact of the metal with the drumand pre- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 15, 1917. Serial No. 196,625.

mnrnnnnnrzne' nrrmrus Patented May 6, 1919..

high temperature heating. It involves givmg to the material fed into the furnace a predetermined initial shape and set in the curvature of a coil or helix of desired diameter and length suitable to the stiffness of the. material and the size-of the furnace. This material is wound into the furnace so that it hangs loosely from a suitable sup- "port and, though the material is more or less flexible, the construction of the support is such as to permit the successive turn to assume and maintain a curvature and spacmg roughly approximating the coil or helix shape origmallygiven it.

By suitably predetermining the length of the interior support and the number of turns of the-helix hangingthereon, the length of time required for travel of each turn through the furnace may be as long as necessary. Hence, it is possible to maintain the requiredrate of output of heated material while using a relatively small, compact furnace. a

Because of the effect of the heat upon the coiled material in softening it, it is necessary to carefully control the rates of movement of the metal at the supply end and the exit end, so that it will be unwound from the exit end of the helix by the time it has become softened to the proper degree and before it'becomes too soft to maintain proper I separation of the turns of the helix.

The material is uniformly heated because the amount of it which actually touchesthe support is small and the point of contact is more or less shifting.

Thematerial to be heated may be sup plied in ready formed coils containing any desired length of the material, preferably the ordinary commercial coils obtainable from the rod mills. Such material already has an initial shape or set of approximately the curvature of the coil in which it is marketed and such curved shape or set may be utilized in the formation of the desired .helix within the furnace, the method of transfer into the furnace operating to progressively open out the coils to the desired helical form.

The transfer of the material from the, ex

it by hand to t ing into the furnace, and this opening need not be of much greater diameter than the thickness of the mate'ial.

My invention may be used for progressively heating coiled material for any desired purpose, but it is particularly a plicable to the heating of iron until it 1s soft enough for forging operations. In such case, it savesthe necessity of straightening and cuttin the coiled material into lengths, heating it in lon furnaces and transferring e automatic forging machine or other apparatus in which it is to be used.

The means for transferring the exterior coiled material into the furnace and for giving the successive turns the desired heli-' cal form is shown herein as consisting of an exterior rotor carrying an obllque opening through which the coiled material in helical form passes into the furnace, the rotary path of said opening being in operative relation to an external support for the supply coil.

and an internal support for the helix which is formed therefrom. The longitudlnal support within the furnace is preferably n onrotating and preferably comprlses a conical mandrel portlon of approxlmately the diameter of the helix to be formed and upon which the feed rotor lays the material-to be heated in helical relation; and a more or less horizontal extension ofmuch smaller diameter along which the successive turns of the helix progress in properly spaced relation while exposed on all sides to the heat of the furnace. The fully heated material is withdrawn endwise from the remote end of the helix.

Means for accomplishing the above results are shown in my Patent 1,243,443, but. as will be evident by reference to said patent, the coil support is eccentrically located on the winder so that its axis is eccentric to the axis of the helical coil which it forms with- I in the furnace, and the rod coil is less than half the diameter'of the winding mandrel.

This requires that the initial curvature ,of

the coil must be very much straightened out stationary mandrel out of contact wit in order to change the set of the material to the large diameter of the winder, mandrel and helix formed thereby within the furnace; Such extensive straightening of the heavy rod material causes excessive pressures and wear upon the guide surfaces and otherparts of the mechanism and power plant. Moreover, the. eccentric or planetary e coil support serlously unwinding rotor thus creatin a and unequal wear of theparts. c

This and similar objectionable features were tolerated as necessary evils because the mechanical difficulties of maintainin the the furnace opening, yet wi 'n the path of the the coil support and rotary winder, seemed to render it impossible to apply the commercial bundle coils tothe winder in any other way.

My present invention obviates these difliculties by employment of a transfer winder comprising a transfer drum mounted on the axis of the rotary winder but rotatable independently of the winder so that both can be operated simultaneously without either interfering with. the other. This transfer drum is adapted to wind the coil off of an idle drum located in endwise relation thereto so that the transfer of the coiled rod material can be effected without much change of its set or curvature. This rewinding drum has its surface approximately continuous with a coil support co-axial with the helix-forming rotor, so that the transferred coil can he slid endwise on to it from the transfer drum. This involves some increase in the amount of apparatus employed, but commercially considered it is a great improvement since it makes it possible to have coil w1nding substantially co-axial with thehelical coil within the furnace, and this permits transferring the continuous lengths of material from the commercial rod coil bundle, into the open helix on the support within the furnace, with only a minimum change in the initial curvature or set,'and hence with minimum wear of the quirements.

Other features of my invention include water cooling the margin of the circular opening in the furnace wall, in combination with the water cooling of the winding mandrel, thereby making it practical to use an air cooled cast iron surface instead of a fire brick surface on the rotor, as the closure for the annular opening between said water cooled parts.

' Other details of my invention including the particular shape and proportion of the hanger within the furnace with reference to the furnace dimensions will be evident from the followin detailed description in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of the parts with the furnace cut away to horizontal section on the level of the axis of the winder;

Fig. 2 is a side elevationof the same parts with the furnace cut away to vertical central section;

Fig. 3 is a vertical central section of all of the operative parts as well as of the furnace;

Fig. 4 is a rear end elevation of the winding mechanism;

Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are details showing the construction of the annular face plate for closing-the winding annulus between the mandrel and the circular furilace opening in which it is located; and

parts and minimum power resaaeaa Fig. 8 a a detail "elevation t the hit-- nace door and the aperturethrough which i It preferably includes a reverberato the heated material is withdrawn.

In the various figures. .of the drawings,"

similar parts areindicated by similar reference numerals. -i

The furnace in which the material is heat ed may be of any known or desired type.

chambar 1 ad'a ted to have its walls maintained at white cat by flaming gases and. rod-3' ucts'of combustion introduced throug the openings 2, 2 and3, 3. The functions of fire brick regenerator shown at 4 need not helix of desired number, diameter and separation of turns and for an orderly withdrawal of the heated material therefrom.

The means for forming and supporting the desired helix of the material to be heated within the furnace is preferably movably mounted with respect to the furnace upon a trac-k 13. 'l[ o this end, I provide a truck 14, mounted on wheels 15 carryin a massive standard 161 In the latter is rigi ly secured a forwardly extending hollow support 17 carrying the disk 18 upon which is mounted a conical mandrel 19 having an internal passage or chamber 20 continuously supplied with cooling. water through pipes '21, 22

'- through the hollow support 17 and connect.- ing with v the interior of said mandrel through radial pipes 23, 24.

Extending forward. from the uppermost portion of the annular mandrel 19 is a hanger 25 in suitable relation for receiving the successive elical turnsof the material and for, holding them freely suspended .and

comprises a U-shaped pipe in communica tion with the interior 20 of the mandrel 19,

for free circulation of the cooling water. The hanger extends to about the middle of I the heating space and the distance from its free end to the exit opening is such that a loop of the helix when drawn ofl of the end will have space enough to hang in an open loop without danger of drawing a kink a or forming a loop by welding contact. The

hanger slopes downwardly for about twothirds of. its distance to facilitate downward "sliding of the successive turns of the helix under the influenceof their own resiliency and the slight vibration imparted by opera extending portion "of the hanger is narrowed so as to give shifting points of fsupportfor the loops thereby avoiding chille spots in, the heatedmaterial. The'outer end of the hanger'is inclined upwardly and is;of diverging wi-dth .so as to. retard withdrawal i of the material thereby making certain that draft upon the end of the material will throw off only one turn of the helix;

Animportant feature of the invention which will be evident from Figs. 1 and 2 is that the exit opening through which the material is withdrawn is approximately in line wi h one side of the helixof' heated material and on the level of the 'top of saidv helix; Moreover, the side which it is on is selected with reference to the direction ofwindin of the helix so that the successive turns wi be drawn straight off 'endwisewith minimum recurving tendency. This means that if the helix is wound in the direction of a left hand screw, the exit opening will be at the upper left'hand side of the furnace.

The circular interior of the mandrelis formed so as to support the lining of firebijck 19' adapted to protect the supporting disk 18 andwater pipes 23, 24 from the heat within the furnace and at the same time to furnish reverberatory heating surface for the interior of the furnace.

- 1 Upon the forward end of the support 17 u on the anti-friction rollers 39, which may be mounted on tpuck 14. As shown, they are mounted on shafts 60, having at their opposite ends gears 61, 61, adapted'to be driven by pinions 62, 62, on shaft 63. Shaft 63 is driven through gear 64, 6'5, shaft 66, gear 67 and pinion 68-by electric motor 69.

The power is thrown on or OK to control the o eration of these supporting rollers 39 by suitable clutches 70, 70, operated through links 71, 72, by lever 73.

i As will be evident, the above described con struction aflords an ample interdependent support for the non-rotating mandrel structure above described as well as for the rotary disk. The rotor 35 has secured thereon by tension bolts 37, 37, opposed by thrust bolts 37', 37', an annular ring composed of cast iron1segments40 halved into each other as at 4 1 The above described structure mounted on the truck 14 forms a removable circular wall adapted to close the circular aperture 38 so as to minimize escape of flame and heated gases during the "operation of the device. Obviously, the major portion of the closure consists of the mandrel and fire-brick carried thereby, both of which are stationary when in operation although capable of longitudinal movement'with the truck. The

segmental cast iron annulus 40 supplies a closure for .the' annular space around the mandrel. The circular margin of the openin}; in the furnace wall is provided with a water cooled ring 43 which, in conjunction with the water cooled mandrel keeps down the'temperature of escaping gases to points sufiicient to permit of the use of the air cooled cast iron annulus as a means for closing'the same.

On the stationary shaft 17 is mounted a coil support 79 wh1ch is preferably free to rotate independently of the Windmg head 35. Adjacent to the coil support 79, and of approxlmately the same diameter, is a transfer drum 81, rigid with a hollow shaft 80 and adapted to be driven by it through gears 83,84, 85, shaft 87, gear 88 and gear 89. The latter gear is mounted on shaft 63 and is adapted to be clutched to and unclu-tched from said shaft by operation of lever 90.

Onthe rear end of the vertical support is a' stud 100 carrying an idle drum 101 upon which may be placed the commercial bundle coils as they come from the rod mill. Between this drum and drum81- is a guide 102 adapted to control the transfer of the rod material to said transfer drum 81.

' In operation of the device, a bundle coil is placed on drum-101, passed through guide 102 and secured to transfer drum 81 as by twisting around one of the removable pins 103. The lever 90 isthen operated to drive the transfer drum thereby winding the rod material without much change of diameter and with only a slight lateral offset into a position where it encircles and is concentric with the axis of the'winder and of the helix to be formed thereby.

The pins 103 are now removed and coil slid on to the drum 79. Theen'd of it is passed through-oblique openings in the ro-- tary winder and cast iron annulus 40. It is then nipped between, the Presser-foot 46 and the mandrel 19. This presser'foot is vertically movable as in m prior Patent 1,243,443 and maybe cool by water cir culated throughpipes 53 and 54. The lever 73 is then operated to start the s11 porting rollers 39 thereby rotating the win er.

' A sufiicient number of turns ofthe helix" are thus deposited. onthehanger and the free end brought out through the exit open- %he number of turns and the'speed of o eration will be governed with respect to t e heat of the furnace and the size of the material so that the. material will be'properly heated by the hanger. Y j

Simultaneously with this. operation,:' another rod coil bundle ;1 nay be wound from drum 101 to transfer drum 81in a manner previously described. At suitable intervals,

material in coils,

timelit reaches the'end of the in which the rod material may be inserted laterally. The portion of the slot unfilled by the rod is covered by thepivoted, gravity latch 113.

I claim:

'1. A furnace for progressively heating material in coils, comprising a furnace having a circular opening, a mandrel in said opening supported independently of the walls of the furnace, a winder adapted to deposit material shaped as an open helix upon said mandrel and means for supporting a supply coil co-axial with said winder and with the helix to be formed therefrom.

2. In an apparatus of the class described, a water cooled margin for the furnace opening,'a water cooled mandrel and a sectional cast iron annulus for closing the annulus be-- tween said opening and said mandrel.

3. In an apparatus of the class described, a U-shaped water cooled hanger having laterally converging and diverging sides;

4. A furnace for progressively heating including a furnace chamber having an annular opening, a support within said chamber for the coil to be heated an idle drum outside of said chamber, means for advancing material from said idle drum through said annular opening to said coil support, a transfer drum adapted tobe positively rotated to Wind material thereon, said transfer drum being disposed co-axial with said idle drum whereb the coil may be shifted axially to the idle rum.

5. A furnace for progessively heating material in coils, includin a furnace chamber having a coil support t 'erein, a drum outside of said chamber for supportin a coil substantially co-axially with the coi in the furnace chamber, means for transferring successlve portlons of the coll from sai drum to said'coil support, a second drum coaxial with the first mentioned drum, and means for positively rotating said second mentioned drum to wind material thereon in the form of a coil, said coil being shifted ax--.

ially from said second mentioned drum to said first mentioned drum.

6. A furnace for progressively heating material in coils, including a furnace chamber having a circular openingand a truck having. a closure for said opening, a coilsupport within said chamber, a drum outside of said closure, means for transferring material from said drum to said coil support, a support for a supply of material, and means for winding said material in coiled form co-axial with said drum and in a position to be shifted axially on to said drum.

7. A furnace for. progressively heating material in coils, including a furnace chamber having a circular opening, a closure for said opening, a coil support within said chamber, a drum outside of said closure, means for transferring material from said drum to said coil support, a su port for a supply of material, and means or winding said material in coiled form co-axial with said drum and in a position to be shifted axially on to said drum.

8. In a machine for progressively heating material in coils, a furnace chamber, a coil support therein, means for delivering material into said chamber on to said support substantially in the form of a helix with a substantially horizontal axis, said chamber having an exit opening in the wall thereof beyond said support and the helix thereon, for the endwise withdrawal of the material of the coil, said opening being disposed approximately at the elevation of the upper side of the coil and at the side of the axis toward which the material at the upper side of the coil would move if the coil were advanced as a screw.

9.- A furnace for progressively heating material in coils, including a furnace chamber having a circular opening, a truck movable toward and from said opening and carrying a coil support adapted to extend into the furnace chamber through said opening, a source of power, means driven thereby for winding material in helical form out side of said furnace chamber, and independent means driven from said source of power for advancing the material of the coil through said opening on to the coil support within the chamber.

10. A furnace for progressively heating material in coils, including a furnace chamber having an annular opening, a support within said chamber for the coil to be heated, a drum outside of said chamber, poweroperated means for advancing material from said drum through said annular opening to said coil support, a power operated transfer drum adapted to be positively rotated to wind material thereon, said transfer drum being disposed co-axial with said first mentioned drum wherebythe coil may be shifted axially to the latter drum, and means for starting and stopping said transfer drum without starting or stopping said means for advancing material to the coil support.

11. A furnace for progressively heating material in coils, including a furnace chamber having an annular opening, a support within said chamber for the coil to be heated, a drum outside of said chamber, power-operated means for advancing material from said drum through said annular opening to said coil support, a power operated transfer drum adapted to be positively rotated to wind material thereon, said transfer drum being disposed co-axial with said first mentioned drum whereby the coil may be shifted axially to the latter drum, and means for starting and stopping said means for transferring material to the coil support without starting orstopping said transfer drum.

Signed at North Tonawanda in the county of Niagara and State of New York this 13th day of October,.A. D. 1917.

WILLIAM BRADFORD PEIRGE. 

